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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoTom Dodge | Columbus DispatchOn August 20, Attorney Don McTigue, left, defended Tom Ritchie Sr, center, and Dennis Lieberman, right, during a hearing to determine if the two suspended Montgomery County County election officials would be terminated.

The pair of Democrats fired last month from the Montgomery County Board of Elections for defying
an early-voting directive has sued Secretary of State Jon Husted in federal court, arguing they
were unjustly terminated.

Dennis Lieberman and Tom Ritchie Sr. had more than 27 years experience on the elections board
when Husted fired them for voting to permit weekend hours for early in-person voting. Husted had
issued a directive to all 88 counties limiting early voting to weekdays.

Husted fired them after a hearing officer recommended the action, concluding that the
directive was clear and had to be followed.

“We believe (Secretary) Husted was wrong when he unjustly fired us,” Lieberman said. “He
violated our free speech and the free speech of other county elections board members. (Secretary)
Husted fired us and then dared other election board members to try and stand up for the voters in
their community.”

In a letter explaining his firing last month, Husted wrote, “Board members are free to
express their discontent with any directive or advisory issued, but they cannot disobey them. Your
dismissal is not about differing views; it is about you violating the law.”

Husted is facing a number of lawsuits and judicial appeals involving issues including
provisional ballots, voting on the three days prior to Election Day, ballot wording on Issue 2, and
the purging of voter rolls.